If you've ever kept a diary or a journal,
you already know the benefits of having a record of your thoughts. Whether
you keep a running day-to-day account or just jot down ideas, inspirations,
observations, poems, short stories, or other tidbits, you've got a book
full of pieces of your life. You've also got a book that can be accidentally
left in a train station, stolen by a sibling and used as blackmail, or
snooped through by a parent or roommate wondering what's really going
on in your life. Maybe you're looking for some privacy, or maybe you're
looking for a platform to blab your inner musings to the world. Sometimes
we want to have the microphone, to be able to say whatever we want atop
a soapbox to anyone who will listen. You've probably already begun paying
bills, dating, doing research, having conversations, and ordering a pizza
digitally; now you can digitize your thoughts too. Why not use the anonymity
of the internet as your silent or broadcasted sounding board? Web logs
(or “blogs” for short) and online journals are your ticket to dropping
the pen and giving that writing hand a rest without having to keep all
your words inside.